What?

August 4, 2006 11:16 AM

Is there some device that I can put on my car's dashboard to monitor sound pressure levels? I think I am slowly losing my hearing due to highway road noise + radio + the air blasting during my long commute.
posted by parallax7d to Health & Fitness (6 answers total)

Well, there's always the Rat Shack SPL meters... 25 or 30 bucks. They're usually used for equalizing a home stereo, but I imagine they'd work just fine for your application, as long as they're not directly in the wind stream.

The analog one is liked better in the audio world, but I think you'd prefer the digital one for use on a dashboard. Easier to read.
posted by Malor at 11:23 AM on August 4, 2006

By the way... SPL = Sound Pressure Level. Many Radio Shacks will carry them in stock, as they're a popular item. I had to hunt a bit to find the old boring analog variety. The digital ones were in every store I checked.
posted by Malor at 11:26 AM on August 4, 2006

Measuring the problem may be informative, but why not begin using appropriate ear protection prophylactically? Many states prohibit drivers from wearing headphones (thus ruling out visible over the ear protectors and noise canceling headphone solutions), and you do have to be able to hear emergency vehicles and other traffic to drive well, but ear plugs which selectively block damaging high and low frequencies are available, that might help.
posted by paulsc at 12:21 PM on August 4, 2006

Instead of thinking about it every commute and posibly worrying, why dont you get a baseline hearing test to log your current level and have a doctor check for possible damage. And then protect your ears if the noise is too loud with plugs. And in a month or six get another test to check if your hearing level/ability has slipped.

If you're into worrying, there are plenty of biological reasons to lose hearing and you may just be correlating it to the most readily available excuse. A doo-dad on your dash will tell you nothing since you dont know what level and exposure causes damage. See a doctor if you're serious.
posted by Kensational at 1:34 PM on August 4, 2006

To mount the Radio Shack Meter, and I agree the digital one probably works better here, get some Velcro with adhesive from a craft store. I think the new ones even have a digital output which you could plug into a handheld to record the spl over time. That would be pretty geeky, but kind of cool. Or you could just toss it on the passenger seat and look at it every now and then.
posted by caddis at 2:17 PM on August 4, 2006

If you're looking to reduce the noise levels, a pair of drummer's headphones should do just the trick. Vic Firth headphones work well.
posted by lunchbox at 4:44 PM on August 4, 2006